'Cautious'

"Enough, enough, Ji Ruo, that's about right. Any more and we won't be able to finish it."

Liang Shixian took off his filthy coat and gathered up the twenty-odd small fish Ji Ruo had caught, saying just that.

These fish weren't big—each only about two fingers wide—but twenty-odd was still a decent amount.

Although the two had already advanced to seventh-level Martial Apprentice, breakthroughs at the Martial Apprentice stage weren't a qualitative change. Martial artists had hearty appetites, but there was still an upper limit.

This many was enough.

"Alright."

Ji Ruo stopped, though a bit reluctantly.

Why hadn't catching fish with his bare hands triggered an achievement?

Ji Ruo stood up, scooped Little Rosie into his arms, and headed back toward where the Tree Demons were stationed.

"Ji Ruo, are you really planning to keep that cat?" Liang Shixian couldn't help asking.

"Of course!" Ji Ruo rubbed Little Rosie's head and said, "Rosie's so cute, why wouldn't I keep her?"

"Rosie?"

"Yeah, that's her name."

Liang Shixian: "...You've already named her?"

"Hehe, you bet."

Ji Ruo looked happy on the surface, but inwardly he was a bit surprised.

It was because Rosie's details panel was a little strange—

[Name: Rosie]

[Race: Unknown]

[Category: Demon-Devil]

[Stage: Infant]

[Talent: Illusion]

[Note: Little Rosie seems to be a very mysterious cat~]

What the hell was "Race: Unknown"?

And, Category: Demon-Devil?

Ji Ruo stroked the cat, suddenly recalling a relatively niche piece of knowledge.

The difference between Demons and Devils was huge.

Normally, all aspects of a Demon's qualities would increase proportionally with its strength.

Except for intelligence, which would stop growing after reaching a certain level, theoretically all other qualities could keep growing indefinitely.

Devils, on the other hand, could evolve by devouring their own kind, rapidly raising their own rank.

However, the gains from a Devil's advancement weren't as comprehensive as a Demon's, and in the early stages, Devil creatures generally had low intelligence. Even when they reached a level comparable to the human Qi Pulse Realm, they still acted purely on instinct—at most, their instincts might include a few simple thoughts.

That was why Ji Ruo had been surprised earlier when he saw those Goblins talking—clearly, the stronger Spider Queen and Six-Whiskered Catfish couldn't speak!

Demons constantly strengthened their physical bodies, but Devils weren't like that.

Devils mostly possessed all sorts of bizarre and unusual innate talents, while their physical strength wasn't outstanding.

Moreover, in the later stages, a Devil's evolution would even completely ignore physical strength, only strengthening intelligence, or rather, mental power.

That was the difference between the two.

One proportionally strengthened everything in the early stages, with decent intelligence, but ignored intelligence later on.

The other ignored intelligence and physical strength in the early stages, evolving rapidly, but in the later stages, it had extremely high intelligence and could master many miraculous abilities.

As for "Demon-Devils," they were hybrids of Demons and Devils.

In Ji Ruo's past life, the hybrids known to the public were generally quite beautiful or handsome, and their intelligence was often outstanding due to the mixed blood.

This inexplicably instilled in the world the mistaken belief that "all hybrids are handsome men and beautiful women."

But in reality, hybrids weren't just that limited set.

There were ugly hybrids and stupid ones too, but people subconsciously didn't count those as hybrids. Not good-looking and not smart—what kind of hybrid were they? A hybrid from the next village over?

Hybrids involved genetics, and the probabilities were mysterious. This applied not only to humans but also to Demons and Devils.

The hybrids of Demons and Devils were called Demon-Devils.

Due to genetic probability issues, Demon-Devils were further divided into several categories.

Top-grade hybrids that inherited all the advantages of both Demon and Devil, normal hybrids that inherited the talents of only one side, low-grade hybrids that inherited one side's talents but had them weakened due to bloodline conflict, and inferior hybrids where the Demon and Devil bloodlines conflicted so much that they completely canceled out all talents.

The types of Demons and Devils were countless. Even humans, who had long been hostile to them, dared not claim to have fully recorded all species of Demons and Devils.

Every Demon-Devil could be considered a brand-new race.

As for what talents and development potential a Demon-Devil inherited, it all came down to luck.

And thus, it was easy to understand why Little Rosie's race was [Unknown].

This little one was a brand-new species.

However, Little Rosie had an innate ability. Although Ji Ruo didn't know how effective it was, at the very least, she should be a third-tier demon—maybe on the weaker side.

But even if she was weak, it didn't matter—raising a pet wasn't about using it to fight.

Thinking this, Ji Ruo rubbed Little Rosie's head and comforted her, "Don't worry, Little Rosie. Your master won't abandon you."

Little Rosie looked up at Ji Ruo with a puzzled expression. "Meow?"

Liang Shixian had already given up on saying anything more to Ji Ruo—if he said it, Ji Ruo wouldn't listen; if he listened, he wouldn't change. He was still as childish as ever. What was the point of talking?

The two of them and the cat returned to the Tree Demons' 'day camp.'

Dozens of Tree Demons gathered here. Although they were all in a 'dormant' state, a faint demonic aura still permeated the area.

This demonic aura wasn't strong. Its only purpose was to inform nearby creatures that this place was already occupied by demons.

Any creature that could sense this faint demonic aura would generally avoid the area—or rather, couldn't be bothered to come. Tree Demons weren't tasty, and the spirit fruits they bore were of low quality. Coming here would be a waste of effort.

As for those who couldn't sense it, they might come, but the Tree Demons had already prepared 'hospitality' in the form of spirit fruits, so there was no need to worry.

Thus, Ji Ruo and the others were quite safe staying here.

"Class monitor, go pick some Red Heart Chili and Numbing Branches. Oh, and get some White Spirit Fruits too," Ji Ruo said.

Liang Shixian was slightly puzzled. "What are you up to now?"

"If we grill this fish directly, it'll be too fishy. Don't we need to marinate it first?"

Liang Shixian: "...Alright."

He felt like the vibe of this martial arts exam was getting more and more off.

The feeling of a field trip was growing stronger and stronger...

Liang Shixian turned around to pick the things Ji Ruo had mentioned.

By the way, the spirit fruits borne by the Tree Demons had no particular bias—they could grow whatever they wanted. In fact, three or four completely different types of spirit fruits could grow on the same Tree Demon.

Substitutes for some seasonings could naturally be found on the Tree Demons. Ji Ruo had already observed this.

"Bam!"

Liang Shixian was picking fruits when he was startled by a loud noise behind him. He turned around and was dumbfounded.

"Ji Ruo, what the hell are you doing cutting down that Tree Demon?! What if they wake up?!"

"Making a container to marinate these fish," Ji Ruo said nonchalantly. "It's fine, it's fine. I'm just cutting off a section. These Tree Demons have strong vitality. I'll just reattach it later."

Once a Tree Demon entered dormancy, it fell into a deep, wholehearted slumber. Combined with their strong vitality and extremely weak perception, as long as you didn't directly burn them, they wouldn't wake up even if cut in half—they were cautious to the extreme.

Ji Ruo had only been discovered last night because he'd popped out of the ground and nearly flipped a Tree Demon over, as all the Tree Demons were still awake at the time.

They had no sense of pain. They did have senses, but they were unclear.

Even if they were cut in half, at worst, their 'sleep quality' would drop slightly.

"Re... reattach it?"

Liang Shixian stared wide-eyed—what the hell did 'reattach it' even mean?!

"Class monitor, don't just stand there. The sooner we marinate, the sooner we can eat grilled fish!"

As Ji Ruo spoke, he drew his blade and sword, following the grain of the tree stump's rings to carve out a large hollow in the center.

Then, he poured the dying little fish wrapped in Liang Shixian's school uniform into the hollow he'd just dug out of the stump.

After a moment's thought, Ji Ruo dug a pit in the ground, buried Liang Shixian's uniform, and stomped it down with his foot.

Ji Ruo said, "Class monitor, your uniform got stained with the fishy smell from the fish. It needs to be buried in the dirt to cover the odor."

Liang Shixian: "..."

And now, of all times, you remember to be cautious?!

(ps: I'm just saying, the backlog is almost at fifty chapters, but updating too much during the new book period affects recommendations. This is the closest I've been to a category recommendation, so I'm begging all readers not to hoard chapters~ I'll definitely release a bunch when it goes on sale, chwa si mi!)

(Pleading for monthly tickets~)

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